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Fate of the Galaxy – Call for Contributors

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Fate of the Galaxy - Call for Contributors

 

We just released our first major public announcement for Fate of the Galaxy, and we are blown away by the enthusiasm fresh out the gate. One of the key aspects of the game is that we are trying very intentionally to design the game with a focus on inclusion, and we need your help.

This project is going to need more contributors who can bring their lived experience to the table. We are looking for women and for non-binary contributors. We are looking for contributors of colour, and for more contributors with disabilities. We want to your voices and your art to make it into the game and show us a more interesting vision of galactic politics.

We will need artists to illustrate the diversity of this open galaxy, the powerful leaders of the fringe worlds, and the fragile beauty of the worlds they protect. Our current artistic direction is to present grey-scale or minimally-coloured images, and we would love to see anything that you have in your portfolio. Our general guidelines, including our standard rates of pay, are available here. We welcome experienced and new talent alike!

Interested Artists: Apply Here

If you are a freelance writer from a marginalised community, please fill in this form to let us know your interest. We will be selecting a number of folks to write new Core Systems for the game as part of the kickstarter process, each which will present a different vision of the space opera genre. Any writers chosen would work with us and our brilliant editor, Amanda Valentine, to develop this setting.

Interested Writers: Apply Here

We know that the design team on this project consists of three cis-white dudes (Jason Pitre, Mark Richardson & Brian Engard), which is why we need your contributions. If you are a creative from a marginalised community, we need your help to make Fate of the Galaxy a success for everyone. Please don’t self-reject or let imposter syndrome hold you back.

The call for contributors is open from now until May 31st, 2018.

The Fate of the Galaxy rests in your hands.

The Emerging Voices Challenge

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A photograph of dawn, with the sun rising over a lake in the winter.

February is a cold and dark time, with our eyes eagerly searching out the sun. It’s time to look to the future. Inspiration and art, from fresh faces and bold voices, will drive us forward into the New Year. For the month of February, we want to spread these stories.

We want you to publicly promote or review an analogue game produced an emerging voice. This could be from a new creative, who are just crafting their first game. It could be from a more established pioneer from an underrepresented community. Lend your support and your passion for these new games and their creators.

Games are a broad category. Roleplaying games, from tiny nano-games to elaborate books are all eligible. All kinds of commercial and non-commercial larps, board games, and card games are likewise eligible for his promotion.  All we ask is that you devote at least 250 words in your promotion or review.

When that’s done, just fill out this form. We will collect all of these projects and promotions, so we can help spread the word.  We will also mail you a physical copy of our award-winning science-fiction game, Posthuman Pathways (MSRP $10).

Now let’s make February a brighter place for all of us, and amplify these emerging voices.

Jason Pitre, Genesis of Legend Publishing

 

 

 

Indie Gems – Small Things (2016)

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Small Things

Seven-Wonders_cover_350-200x300-200x300Designed by Lynne Hardy and Published by Pelgrane Press as part of the 7 Wonders Anthology Available at the Pelgrane Press site.

Pelgrane Press has recently published a fantastic anthology of story games, titled “Seven Wonders”.  I will be preparing short reviews of all seven games within the book as part of my “Indie Gems” series. The fifth of these is a game by Lynne Hardy, titled “Small Things”.

The introduction begins as follows.

In Small Things you play a noble guardian who protects your House and Family from whatever may come along. Problem is, you’re only little.

The default setting is Britain, somewhere between 1930 and the mid-1950s (but without the inconvenience of a World War and rationing), but you can also set it in your country during the same mythical time period. Small Things takes place in a world of faded colours, good manners, few labour-saving gadgets and tea made in big brown teapots and left on the hearth to warm under a stripy tea cozy.

If games had a smell, this one’s would be like hot buttered toast, newly baked bread and cakes, fresh cut grass and clean laundry. It might look a bit like a Raymond Briggs graphic novel (but much, much cheerier), or Wallace and Gromit without the modern conveniences.

 This is one of those games that appears to be simple under the surface, but holds a wicked sharpness underneath.  It’s a game where each of the players portrays one of the small being, almost a spirit of the household. They are hidden from the big people, unappreciated for their hard work at keeping a household. They fight valiantly against disrepair, dust, and clutter, which threaten the Family. It seems to be a beautiful metaphor for how feminine-coded labour is treated by society, and it’s masterfully done.

When you begin the game, you collaboratively determine the kind of home, such as a country cottage, a flat, or an old home. You then pick the kind of family which lives there; anything from a big family, to grandparents, to a single bachelor. This combination of home and the family that lives there does a fantastic job of increasing the diversity of potential play experiences, and the kinds of problems they are likely to face. Simple elements combine to create novel situations, and the structure allows for episodic stories as homes or families change.

The resolution system is elegant and thematic. Each of the Small Things has a few special abilities, things like mending cloth, or closing doors. If they want to do something that they have a relevant ability for, they succeed!  Otherwise, they need to work together with other Small Things to come up with a creative solution. This structure means that the Small Things are driven together, either to cooperate, or bicker based on their personalities.  The Caretaker watches over the whole affair, by introducing wrinkles such as Big Things (people), Creatures, and the malevolent spirits of disrepair from the Outside.

Brew a pot of tea, curl up with a comforter, and enjoy the game!

Indie Gems – Heroes of the Hearth (2016)

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Heroes of the Hearth

Seven-Wonders_cover_350-200x300-200x300Designed by Stiainín Jackson and Published by Pelgrane Press as part of the 7 Wonders Anthology Available at the Pelgrane Press site.

Pelgrane Press has recently published a fantastic anthology of story games, titled “Seven Wonders”.  I will be preparing short reviews of all seven games within the book as part of my “Indie Gems” series.  The third of these is a game by Stiainín Jackson, titled “Heroes of the Hearth Rise and Fall”.

The introduction begins as follows.

Today, we do not sing of the adventurers. Today, we sing of the people behind the adventurers. We sing of their stories. We sing of their struggles. We sing of how they themselves deal with the threat that holds their lands in thrall – the threat that dragged their loved ones from their sized. The Heroes of the Hearth.

This is a complex and well-crafted game that focusses on the loved ones whom the adventurers left behind. Each person portrays one of the various individuals from the village who are related to one of the mighty adventurers: the spouse of the Barbarian, sibling of the Paladin, Child of the Bard, or the Rogue’s betrothed. Each of the player characters are defined by a key question you aim to answer in play, such as “What are you afraid of” or “Do you really believe in the gods?”. They also have a list of potential bonds with the other player characters, such as “You idolise this person and want to be just like them” or “This person is a threat to your business”.  These few elements bring enough richness and characterization that a robust community drama can emerge.

Drama does indeed emerge out of this relationship web.  Play proceeds through a series of acts, corresponding to interactions with the great darkness. Act 1 involves the characters writing letters to the adventurers, while Act 2 involves hearing rumours and news from the front. Act 3 includes letters from the adventurers, which is then followed by an attack from the threat. In each of the first three acts, players declare if their characters appear strong or weak, in the face of the difficult situation. Those strength and weakness checks will inform how the village will respond to the threat’s attack.

The game builds these beautiful tragedies, offering player all of the tools for safety (X-card), improvisation (Yes-and), and vulnerability (playing to lose). The game reminds me in many ways to Montsegur 1244 or Witch: Road to Lindisfarne, with the pre-generated characters doomed to an inevitability tragic situation. The system is streamlined and clean, while offering ample tools for storytelling.

I thought quite highly of this game, and then I discovered the additional scenario at the back. This additional scenario changes the context of play, from Tolkeinesque fantasy to French villagers in World War II. This thoughtful, additional scenario is excellent, and has seduced me even more than the original one. The game is perfectly calibrated to tell human stories, and it’s an excellent reference for future designs.

Scribus for Game Designers

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I just cobbled-together a quick (and crude) tutorial on how RPG publishers can use the free Scribus software for layout. It’s a powerful, though flawed, piece of software and I think the video might help folks who can’t afford the rather expensive license for InDesign. I hope this is helpful!